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Dear Friends,

We should also note that the WCC does not speak for all Protestants - there is a tendency among Catholics and Orthodox to see the WCC as a kind of "Protestant ecclesial communion" and it certainly is not.

It tends to be very liberal theologically - and politically, supporting radical initiatives.

In fact, many liberal Catholics would feel very comfortable being with the WCC.

Again, traditional Catholics should never assume that all Catholics believe or think as they do. That is clearly not the case.

Alex

I said earlier regarding Bishop Hilarion

I�m sure he also must be aware that the views of the western WCC ecclesial communities he is commenting on have significant play elsewhere.

and this

was what I was referring to. Catholic biblical scholar Luke Timothy Johnson described the post Vatican II church in the U.S. as the countries largest mainline Protestant denomination. It�s one of the main reasons I think Bishop Hilarion may be disappointed in his hope that some sort of alliance will bear any tangible benefits.

Andrew

Dear All
The WCC most emphatically does not represent all Protestants and in no way represents a "Protestant ecclecial community." It does represent all that is wrong with mainline Protestant "Christianity." For all the serious differences that exist between believing Evangelical Christians and believing Apostolic Christians, we have far more in common with one another than I, as a conservative Evangelical Christian have with the WCC.
Michele
PS I'm not mad-I hope I don't sound harsh

I would agree to some degree with Michele.
While a chaplain in the Air Force it was always amazing to see that in groups of chaplains when they were discussing what they believed and were about, the Evangelicals began to side with the Catholic Church, Now isnt that amazing! They were least likely to side with their mainline Protestant brothers.
Stephanos I

We have something similar in Australia Cardinal Pell has a very strange friend in the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney who is an Evangelical. The CofE in Sydney is well know for being anti Catholic in it's past and so much so that the High Church were not allowed to wear a chasuble. They are also into North End Service, which is sideways on to the congregation (other Anglicans often say Sydney is the Church of Ireland in Australia). In the CofE you can't get any lower if you tried. However they feel that they and the Catholics are on the same side against the rest who are compromising on basic teaching. This is something that would be unthinkable a few years ago.

ICXC
NIKA

Dear Friends
I know I have posted this before, but Is the Reformation Over? by Mark Noll and (I think) Carolyn Arends is worth reading. I don't say that because I agree with everything he says in the book or because I think forum members would. However, what he says is of interest to those who are interested and concerned with the state of Evangelical/Catholic relations in our times. He points to many examples of cooperation and even understanding between Evangelicals and Catholics-not the namby pamby "ecumenicalism" which tries to overlook sincere differences so we can all just be friends, and not simply "co-belligerence" but something more healthy and more encouraging and more real. Clearly we disagree with each other on some pretty major points of theology on a very deep level. But what gives me hope is that so many in each group are moving beyond simplistic views of one another's theology and faith life. The reason this is so important to me is that so many people I love belong to a different communion than I do, and my situation reflects the situation in the world. It matters whether we learn to understand and appreciate each other.
One last interesting note: Mark Noll recently announced he was leaving Wheaton College(probably the premier Evangelical university in America) to take a post at the University of Notre Dame.
With respect,
Michele

I think I need to apologize for hijacking this thread-I guess I have gotten pretty off-topic. I will try to avoid that in the future.

Michele

My understanding is that the NCC is actually much worse than the WCC. (I don't have extensive knowledge of either of them; so hopefully someone who's better acquainted with them with either deny or confirm what I've said.)

Peter.